Hollywood movies can be unrealistic and unbelievable, but sometimes, they get things right! Check out these 25 Hollywood tropes that people in America have genuinely experienced, from high School experiences to clumsy accidents to happily ever afters.

1. Wild College Parties

While many people watch crazy college parties in movies and think it’s unrealistic, many American colleges and universities do have insane parties! College kids dance, drink excessively, play beer pong, and even drink out of the classic red Solo cups.

2. Riding a Yellow Schoolbus

Yellow school buses seem like a quaint Hollywood trope, but they’re real. Many kids ride mustard yellow school buses to and from school every day, just like little Forrest in Forrest Gump. I rode a yellow school bus for many field trips, so I can personally confirm this!

3. Town Parades

Town parades, bicentennial celebrations, and the like seem way over the top in movies, but many small towns have similar celebrations. Kids participate in making the parade floats, the mayor comes out to wave at everyone, and there’s usually a whole lot of confetti to clean up afterward.

4. Cheesy Vegas Weddings

Many Hollywood movies feature a drunken couple marrying hastily at a cheesy Las Vegas chapel, but this happens. One comment on a forum post said, “My first husband and I had a quickie wedding, in Vegas, by an Elvis impersonator.” Yes, Elvis impersonators are a real thing too.

5. Desert Tumbleweeds

In classic Western movies and films in a desert setting, there is almost always a shot of a lone tumbleweed blowing across the dirt. Well, this definitely happens. Tumbleweeds exist naturally in deserts and dry places and often blow past you with a gust of wind, making you feel like you’re about to be in a cowboy showdown.

6. Summer Camps

Hollywood has dramatized the concept of an All-American summer camp with many kids rowing in canoes, jumping off lake platforms, and roasting marshmallows side by side. It may seem too idyllic to be accurate. Still, many summer camps, especially those in New England, are precisely like this.

7. Elaborate Weekday Breakfasts

Have you ever watched a movie where the mom has a full breakfast of pancakes, fruit, eggs, and bacon ready for the kids before school? Who would get up at 6 am to make that happen? Well, some people do! Some people wake up at the crack of dawn to create a lavish breakfast spread for their families. Sounds nice, right?

8. Long Road Trips

The classic American road trip is a quintessential Hollywood trope, but it happens in real life all the time. America is a massive country, and many people enjoy driving from state to state, admiring the scenery, embracing the different demographics, and basking in the freedom of the open road.

9. Snooty Salespeople

Remember the mean sales lady in Pretty Woman? Unfortunately, people like that truly exist. While most retail stores have kind and welcoming staff, some high-end boutiques and designer shops have intimidating and rude salespeople who may treat you poorly. If this happens to you, don’t forget to return and throw it in their face as Julia Roberts did!

10. Spirited Pep Rallies

The lively and almost comically peppy pep rallies in high school movies are not entirely imaginative. Many high schools, especially ones with excellent football teams, have extravagant pep rallies where the cheerleaders perform complex routines, and everyone goes wild with school spirit.

11. Street Drag Races

In movies like The Fast and the Furious people risk their lives participating in dangerous and fast-paced drag races, meaning streetcar races. While this is very illegal, it still happens in rural areas. There are even intricate drag race communities and gangs!

12. Tossing Graduation Caps

Do people really toss their graduation caps in the air? Yes! This tradition has been popular in America for over a century. It is a form of celebration that began in the US Naval Academy. You might not always get your cap back, but it’s a wonderful act of camaraderie with your fellow classmates.

13. Buying a Baguette

Many movies have the cute trope of a main character walking home from the grocery store with a brown paper bag and a fresh baguette sticking out. While this seems unrealistic to many, lots of people love fresh baguettes, and how else are you supposed to carry them home?

14. Mean Girls and Bullies

Unfortunately, mean girls and bullies are real, especially in middle and high school. So, movies like Mean Girls and The Karate Kid are not entirely fictional regarding kids being hurtful toward one another.

15. Overprotective Dads and Brothers

The trope of overprotective brothers and fathers in Hollywood movies can be absurd, with dads pulling out rifles to meet their daughters’ boyfriends and brothers defending their sisters from sketchy guys. But these dads and brothers exist! It can be cute and endearing but can also become a little scary!

16. Special Requests at Restaurants

Most of us go to restaurants and just order off the menu. But, according to one online commenter, “rich people actually go to restaurants and request the chef ‘makes them something new’ and then they do it.” I’ll probably just stick to the menu.

17. Dye Packs in Money Bags

It’s pretty comical when the bank robbers think they escaped successfully with the millions, only to open the money bags and have purple dye spurt in their faces and foil their plans. These dye bags are genuine. However, they’re usually red, not purple.

18. Rainy Funerals

Movie funerals always seem to happen on dreary, rainy days when the weather matches everyone’s feelings of gloom and melancholy. It doesn’t always rain at funerals, but plenty of people have experienced this trope for themselves.

19. Catching a Boot While Fishing

In movies, a character may go fishing and get excited because they think they have a fish on the line, only for it to be an old, muddy boot. Believe it or not, this happens to people. Although, it’s unclear who keeps dropping boots into bodies of water.

20. Love at First Sight

I’ve never experienced this, but I know some people who took one look at a stranger and knew they were meant for one another. Love at first sight seems impossible, but sometimes the stars align, and everything changes with one look.

21. Neighborhood Block Parties

The Hollywood trope of a whole neighborhood coming together to plan a festive and welcoming block party happens all the time in the suburbs. My childhood neighborhood used to do this, and there was always fun stuff like a bouncy house, water balloons, and DJ!

22. Slipping on a Banana Peel

While watching actors slip and fall on banana peels in slapstick comedies is funny, it’s also a genuine hazard. Banana peels are more slippery than you may think, so dispose of your compost wisely and watch where you step.

23. Professions of Love at Airports

Does anyone actually run to the airport and stop the love of their life from getting on the plane to who-knows-where? Yes! While modern TSA can make this tricky, people have made sweeping professions of love. In fact, my mom did this to my dad, so I know it’s real!

24. Screeching Brakes in a Car Crash

This trope is not as positive as the others on my list, but it’s authentic. There is often a dramatic sound of screeching brakes in car crash scenes just before the impact. Unfortunately, this is all too real, and the sound is common in real life when drivers try to prevent an inevitable crash.

25. Happily Ever Afters

Okay, this sounds super cheesy, and it is, but it’s also supremely sweet and romantic. While the idea of a happily ever after sounds too good to be true, some people do get their perfect ending, whether it’s being with the love of their life, creating a family, or just finding pure joy in life.

Source: Reddit